AP names Carovillano managing editor for US news

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NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Carovillano, an experienced editor who has directed coverage both domestically and overseas, has been named The Associated Press' managing editor for U.S. news.

Brian Carovillano

Carovillano, who has worked since 2010 as AP's Asia-Pacific news director, will lead the cooperative's news coverage of the U.S., including state-specific reporting and broader topical coverage. He will supervise the four U.S. regional editors managing AP's East, South, Central and West news desks, while coordinating domestic coverage with leaders of other departments. Carovillano, 40, will be based in New York and move into the new role starting in January.

Before working in Asia, Carovillano, served as AP's Atlanta-based South regional editor, leading coverage that included extended reporting on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The New Jersey native worked at newspapers in Framingham, Mass., and Peterborough, N.H., before joining AP in 2000, first as a reporter in Providence, R.I., and later in editing roles at the cooperative's bureaus in San Francisco and Boston.

In Bangkok, Carovillano has directed coverage of stories including Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, the ascension of Kim Jong Un to the leadership of North Korea and Myanmar's tumultuous transition after years of military rule. His tenure saw AP expand its footprint in the region by opening news bureaus in North Korea and Myanmar, and bring text, photo and video journalists together under a converged management structure.

AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said Carovillano was distinguished by his efforts to build the South Desk — the first of the four domestic news hubs established by AP when it began regionalizing coverage in 2008 — and his work in Asia, leading reporting across formats.

"He is a formidable leader," Carroll said in a note to AP employees, "smart, strategic and collaborative with a calm style that inspires confidence."

Carovillano said working in Asia had provided a broader perspective on the role of the U.S. in the larger world and that he is looking forward to returning to work with domestic reporters and editors he already knows well.

"I hope to energize and mobilize (AP's) greatest asset, which is its staff, and continue to push for more ambitious and distinctive journalism from every state, that will benefit all our members and subscribers," he said.

Carovillano, a graduate of Maine's Colby College and a 2010 Sulzberger Fellow at Columbia University, plans to move to the New York area with his wife and their two children after the first of the year.